Lot 35

Glashütte D & C (Dürrstein & Comp.), Movement No. 12257, Case No. 12257, 48 mm, 82 g, circa 1877
A very rare, decorative hunting case pocket watch
Case: 18k gold, glazed movement. Dial: enamel. Movm.: 3/4 plate movement, screw compensation balance.
Johannes Dürrstein (1845-1901) founded his wholesale firm for watches in 1874 and called it Dürrstein & Co.; the company was quickly successful and sold mainly watches from Switzerland. At the same time he entered a contract with F. A. Lange in Glashütte, enabling him to be the sole distributor of Lange timekeepers, however, this did not bring the expected results. As a consequence Dürrstein convinced Lange to produce lower-priced pocket watches which he advertised as "Caliber D & C" at first and later sold under the brand name "Glashütte D & C". In 1893 Dürrstein finally established his own manufactory – the "Uhrenfabrik Union, Glashütte i.S.".
It is not pure chance that the decoration on this watch reminds us of the famous cases that were later created after the designs of Professor Karl Ludwig Theodor Graff, who was the director of the school for applied arts in Dresden from 1875 on. Graff and Dürrstein were longtime friends and Dürrstein was always keen to have the finest cases for his timekeepers.

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